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Show eT TheSalt Lake Tribune = H3 Sunday, June 30, 2002 Denver's Bankrupt Ocean Journeys AquariumFishesfor a NewInvestor he City of Denveris looking for a buyerfor its Ocean Journeys aquarium. The down € ADVENTURE town site only attracted just over 700,000 visitorslast year and could not escape bankruptcy. The $63 million aquarium filedfor bankruptcy protection in April and is trying to reorganize. Sofar, no major investor has stepped forward. Part of the problem is that only a few U.S. aquariums are reportedly making money. Researchers saythe most popular - in Baltimore, New Orleans, Chattanooga, Tenn., Monterey, Calif., and Long Beach,Calif. are successful becausetheyare near other tourist attractions. Salt LakeCity has been consider: ing whetherto build an aquarium near Gateway, in downtown. andSpace World's Fair Frontier Chief Executive Officer Jeff Potter saidhefirst considered Needle mem the idea three years ago anddis: of JetBlue, the other U.S. airline of- ee by Seattle’s Mu seum of His. tory andIndustry. list ofother 40th - fering theservice. Frontier, whichflies to32 cities » (including Salt Lake City), plans to BRUCE SMITH activities will be published soon, when arrangements with partnerorganizations ve beenfinalized. Events may include a World’sFair Memorabilia Swap Meet, a 60s Sock Hop,a follow-up 60s Car Show and otherevents. For updated information, go to Seattle's Space Needle has ex- have the 24-channel system installed The Mandalay Resort Group has tended its 40th anniversary celebration to Oct. 21, which was the closing Frontier Airlines will becomethe secondU.S. carriertooffer live satel date of the 1962 World's Fairthat gave risefo the tower. The Space Needle will offera series of events andactivities all summer. Guests will be ableto view a lite television in each passengerseat ofits airplanes. The airlinesigned a letterof intenttoofferfree satellite programming. A final agreement was expected in July. One wayto save money on travel Travel Deals Casein point: The Encyclopedia of vantage of discounts at the po Cheapby TerranceZepke. In addition to being a source for travel agencies, operators and Web sites offering low announcedplans fora 41-story, 1,125suite tower addition to Mandalay Bay on the south endof the Las Vegas Strip. The tower will have oversize ost trips or tickets, the book has plenty of tips. Among them: @ Unadvertisedspecials areof (750-square-foot) rooms, a spaandfitness and business centers, making it especially appealing to convention. @ Thebesttimeto call airlinesfor rock-bottomfares is between mid. night and1 a.m. If you makehotel reservations to open in January. Ground- scheduled ona Sunday, you will paythe lowest for September and construction is expected to take 13 months. rate of the week. (That's important because, according to the book, three dozen rates are possible for the same Theadditionwill give theresort 4,825 rooms, pushing sister property Luxor, with4,404 rooms,into second Thereis no better timeto _ ad Phoenix-arearesorts thanintia scorching heatof the summer. ‘The Pointe South Mountain Resort is offeringits two-roomsuites for $89 anight until Sept. 7. For reservations, call your travel agent or vi fered every week by airlines, tour companies, cruise lines and other travel operators. eers. Not coincidentally, Mandalay Bay’s big conventioncenteris on breaking for the tower Francisco, Monterey, Catalina Island and Ensenada. Call yourtravel agent or visit www.recl.com is to simply pick up a book or maga: zineandstart reading. Las Vegas Is Rising t What's on T' will makea special six-night California Coastal sailing, with stops in San Travel Tips on 26ofits 35 aircraft by March 2003. Anniversary Trip of the Week OnSept. 15, Royal Caribbean CruiseLines’ Grandeur of the Seas oMAR cussedit with David Neeleman, chief orabilia ex. hibit organized anddis. www.spaceneedle.com. Space Needle Celebration TRAVELIN www.pointesouthmtn.com. The WigwamResort in Litchfield Park also has ratesfor $99 a night until Sept. 9. If you are feeling crazy you canpay $158 a night and get unlim: ited playon theresort's three golf courses andbreakfast daily. For resitions, call your travel agent or visit www.wigwamresort.com. place onthe list of biggest hotels in Wednesday, you will pay the highest Bruce Smith, a former Salt Lake ‘Tribune reporter, is editorof TaleWinds, anonlinetravel news: Las Vegas. MGM isstill the largest rateof the week. letter room.) And, if you rent a car ona Stretch Your Travel Dollar: Go Online, Use Group Discounts, Hopin the Car BY EILEEN AMBROSE THE BAL IMORE SUN For some overworked souls, it will be impor: tant not only to escape on vacation this summer, butalsoto dosoforless money. ‘The average summervacation is expected to cost $2,172 this year, 31 percentless than the year before, according to a recent survey by debt counselor Myvesta in Rockville, Md. “As a general rule, international travel is down 15 to 18 percent from a yearago. It’s not just Sept. 11,” said Diana Nyad, host of the radio program “The SavvyTraveler.” ‘The weakstock market andshrinking 401(k)s, Nyad said, are prompting some to forgo the annual summer trip to Europe or Hawaii. “Now they say, ‘We've never seen Canada and never been to Montana.It's right here, and we can get there by car,’ she said. If you are among those wanting to get away withoutshelling out too manytraveler's checks, experts recommendways to keep costs down: @ Get online help. Whetheryou are a de yourselferor use a travel agent, experts suggest checking out travel Websitesfor the latest deals. The three major online travel agencies are www .farechase.com, www.qixe.com and search engines that peruse numerous Web sites have aid for Bermuda,” shesaid. Being flexible on airports can payoff, too. for you. Sometimesit ) percent or more cheaper to fly to anoutlying airport and complete the journey by shuttle bus orrental car, Sullivan said @ Investigate discounts and upgrades. Are youa member of AARP, AAA, the American Bar “You can oftenfind good deals on them,” said MarkSullivan, editor of Fodor's Travel Publications in NewYork. “It’sa good ideato check more thanone. Sometimes Travelocity has a deal that Expediadoesn’t have.” As Also, major online travel agencies don’t include Southwest Airlines, the largest discount airline. If you want online information about bersofassocia ents got a $30-a-day discount on a $200 hotel room Southwest, go to its Website at www.southwest .com. Online sites can also be used along with a travel agent, Sullivan said. Heoften starts his travel hunt online, then askshis agent toseeifa better deal could be found. “A good travel agent knows the right times of day and right days ofthe week, and can help you find the cheapest fare possible,” he said. @Be flexible. You can save moneyif you have leeway on when you can travel or don’t haveyourheartset on a particular spot bb or sometues group? Many hotels in Alaska as a memberof AAA,shesaid. Evenif you are not a memberofa group, ask for a discount or an upgradeat no extracost, experts suggest. Often businesses will throw in per! uch as a hotel roomwith abetter view. “It’s in theirinterest to give you abetter room if they have the roomavailable,” Broth said “You will be happy and go away thinking the hotel was muchbetter than you thoughtit would be andyouwill tell your friends.” You can phone homeat a discount while traveling by using a prepaid calling card, said Pikesville, Md., said onecouplecalled her want- Matt Coffin, founder of LowerMyBills.com, an online comparisonshopper. www.orbitz.com, www.travelocity.com and ing to go to Bermuda. But they were agreeable to switching destinations, and Broth found thema betterdeal to Jamaica. “They got more for their money, andit was a pay phone a ‘avel www.expedia.com. Some experts recommend probablyat least one-third off what they would Nancy Broth, ownerof Caves Travel Inc. in “Sometimes hotels can charge you $2 a minute,” he said, whereas usingacallingcardat cents to 10 cents a minute. rr. Experts say that in theafby termath of Sept. 1l, many Americans are ISN'T IT FUNNY HOW A WEEKEND CAN LAST A LIFETIME? . Re) om: Mesquite, A with gaming, golfing thing MESQUITE fo you vacationing closer to home. A car is generally cheaper transportation than a pl number of road trip: Some traveler: tear on theirvel your credit card or auto poli y provides peif insur- ance coverage for the rental car, saving the expense ofbuying coverage from the rental agency, Coffin said Considerloading up the car and visiting national parks, suggested Pauline Frommer, con- tributing editor to Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine. A yearlongpa people with d ‘ or who areagi older can buya lifetime pass for $10, sh “A lot of people are worried tna parks will be extra crowded because so many people arestayingin the United States,” Frommer But manyforeign travelers are also home, so the parks shouldn't be any more crowded than usual, she said. Frommeralso recommends children’s sum- mercampsthat open their facilities to the entire family. a lovely week for “In everystate of the union you summer ationf familyof four,” s little id. Forinfec mation about family camps, check out the Amer: an Camping Association's Web site at Www.acacamps.org or call 800-428-2267. |
